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JD.com reveals how to engage Chinese consumers

JD.com’s general manager in France Florent Courau offered his tips on how western brands can stand out to Chinese shoppers at Drapers Digital Festival this morning.

Communicate a clear and universal brand story This is really the first thing that is key to standing out. If your story is too complicated, it could get lost in translation, so the brand story and its impact is very important.

Adapting product ranges locally Some kind of adaptation is important, which could mean taking local personalities and adapting product lines [accordingly]. Some French brands are interested in co-designing product lines with some of our data scientists and fashion experts.

Turn to social networking, especially WeChat The weight of social networks, which is rising, is huge in the mind of a [Chinese shopper]. It is digital from the start, from social to commercial – it is much more digital than it is in the west now.

Every quarter we have tens of millions of new users. A quarter of these come straight from (social networking app) WeChat.

Retailers have started using WeChat to try to capture people before they travel. This is so important: to [play off] social networking, in terms of information.

Use Chinese payment platforms Chinese payment platforms are a must-have in today’s retail society. Using WeChat Pay is something I believe is very important in attracting customers.

China [used to be quite backward on] setting up payment infrastructure, but [we are] moving now to electronic payment without the credit card. The credit card is a stupid piece of plastic.

The number of infections from the coronavirus has risen sharply after health officials in China’s Hubei formed a new broader definition used to diagnose cases, leading to further store closures and supply chain issues in the country.

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